Standard periods
Rejected evidence is normally deleted after 90 days. Approved evidence is normally retained for 730 days. Periods may change for a valid deletion request, active clarification, dispute, security event, fraud concern, or legal duty.
- Rejected evidence: normally 90 days.
- Approved evidence: normally 730 days.
- Public certificate metadata: retained for registry integrity unless hidden or removed under policy or law.
- Audit events: retained where lawful to protect integrity.
- Payment and accounting records: retained according to legal and accounting requirements.
Evidence and certificate records are different
Evidence retention applies to private proof files, not the public certificate record. A certificate can remain verifiable after evidence deletion because its signed snapshot, hash, status, and event history protect integrity without republishing proof.
Deletion and preservation
Request deletion at support@verifiedhikes.com. We may need enough information to locate the application but will not ask you to email original proof. A narrow legal, accounting, security, or dispute hold may delay deletion until the hold ends.